Happily Ever After?
by Battlecruiser
Summary: Weiss has lost the one person who she could not bare to lose. What will she do? She may not know it, but she'll get her happy ending. Three short one-shots for White Rose Week 2019 day 5: Loss.
1. Happily Ever After?

She couldn't sleep. She couldn't since it happened.

_So much blood_

Because every time she closed her eyes she relieved that horrible day.

_Polished steel stained crimson and black_

_Three screams: An unholy, deafening wail. Her own cry of tortured agony._

_And a muffled, pained yell. _

A sound that would always haunt her. It still rang in her ears.

The piece fabric she clutched tightly in her arms the only small comfort she had on night such as this. But even this, most of it dyed a different hue than she knew it used to be, served as a dark reminder. A reminder of why she had it now at all.

"_Please don't go! Don't leave me!"_

"_At least you're safe now. . ."_

She would never forget the way tears mixed with blood.

The princess sat up in her dark room, only one candle driving away some of the shadows. Were it not for the walls being painted as white as her hair it would have still been too inky to see.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, again she felt the pull she had felt before. And again not sure if she was imagining that it felt like something else was pulling at her soul. She couldn't convince herself it wasn't her imagination; an excuse so she could cope with what she had done.

She tried to fight the urge, fight what she saw as her own selfishness. But she had tried before, so she knew she would lose and gave in quickly. The princess held out a shaking hand to the floor in front of her.

Magic lit the room in a pale glow, a large rune danced along the floor directly in front of her. A power she had once seen as a gift, but now it was a curse.

And from it arose a human figure, slightly larger and taller than herself, quickly taking form. Around its shoulders she gingerly placed the cloak she had been holding.

This was where it belonged anyway.

Now in front of her, all stained a light blue was something very familiar. Something that should have never been that color.

_Someone_ she knew very well, and cared very dearly for.

And she could hardly bare to look upon what she had done.

The first time this had happened, she had wondered if it was really the woman she knew. Or if it a figment of her powers, imagination, and guilt. A mere copy like all of her other summons.

But when Blanche looked in to those silver eyes. Eyes that should have been blue, like on her and everything she created, she knew.

She knew that Garnet really was there.

Or part of her. . .

Her soul was at least. . . .

There had been no other way, she knew that.

But that didn't make it hurt any less.

They had done it, completed their quest, but it was a terrible price to pay.

Even with all this, the smile looking back at her said that it was going to be okay.

But she couldn't keep Garnet here. She shouldn't. It wouldn't be right, it wasn't right.

That smile that Blanche knew she didn't deserve.

It hurt to look at Garnet like this. A shadow of who she used to be.

The princess put on a soft smile, banishing the remorse and pain, instead letting show through the happiness she always felt seeing this woman, even now. It was so Garnet wouldn't worry. She had hurt her enough already.

"H-hello Garnet," She tried to keep her voice steady, to hide the sorrow.

Garnet smiled, and held up one finger. She was gone for a split second, but quickly found what she wanted; a quill and parchment.

Her voice was a privilege that Garnet no longer had.

Just one of so many things ripped away.

The quill moved as she wrote her reply.

_**Hey Blanche! How are you?**_

The penmanship was atrocious as always, but Blanche had long learned how to interpret those marks and had substantial practice doing so. Those little things brought back memories, memories now held even more dear now that they hurt.

"I'm fine," She lied, though Blanche knew that the Garnet would be able to tell that it was, both because of how well they knew one another and Garnet's condition. "How are you doing?" Blanche asked timidly, fearing the worst answer.

_**I'm doing okay. It still feels a little weird but I'm used to it. **_Was written in front of her.

_You shouldn't have to get used to this _Blanche thought, guilt further seeping in to her. Loud scribbling pull her from those thoughts.

_**How's your kingdom doing? **_The smile had never Garnet's face, a sight that still brought more joy than pain. But the pain still came.

"It's not my kingdom yet, the Queen is very much still alive and mother does plan to keep it that way for a while. Though it's doing great," Blanche said, thankful she didn't have to lie this time, "With the evil gone, its prospering again. And everyone in the kingdom has you to thank for that." Her eyes started to water, her mind drawn once again back to that day.

_**We did it together! You, me, Noir, Yin, and the others, none of us could have fought Salem alone.**_

_But we all made it back. _Blanche thought for a second before seeing Garnet write something else.

_**How**_ _**is Yin doing?**_

That was the first time that Garnet looked concerned that day, a different sparkle in those silver eyes.

"It's been hard, but your sister's doing okay," That was an overstatement. Yin had taken this all as hard as Blanche had. If she didn't have Noir to help her through it, they all may have lost two friends that day. She had made a promise, to herself and their mother, that she would protect Garnet. And at least to Yin, she had failed.

_No thanks to me _Seeing what it had done to Yin was terrible. Yet she had never blamed Blanche, saying that she understood there wasn't a choice. Yin only sought fit to condemn herself, that she should have been able to do something.

"She and Noir are still the best guards and friends I could ever have."

They were the only other people who knew about how Garnet was now. Though they hadn't talked to or seen her. Unless garnet wanted to say goodbye, they didn't want to make it any harder for her.

And Yin trusted Blanche with her sister, to do what Garnet wanted and what was best for her. The princess knew that even as a queen, she could never be given a higher honor.

Garnet again looked more at ease after hearing her sister was fine. But then she noticed Blanche.

The princess had tears running down her face, despite making an effort to stop them. A few fell to the paper below.

_**What's wrong?**_

"I-. . I need to let you go." Blanche was able to choke out, "You deserve to finally rest." There lives had been hard, now at least one of them could stop fighting.

And so she put her head down and Blanche started to weep, now not an uncommon sight like it use to be.

For a moment the woman before her took a hold of her hands.

Every other summon felt cold, eternally frozen ice molded by the sorceress.

But Garnet was warm, like she had always been.

Hands again held hands when the quill stilled.

_**Do you want me here?**_

Blanche lifted her head to read those words, made difficult by her tears, the gloom, and the handwriting.

And the message made it all hurt even more. What could she say? What should she say?

On the face in front of her was only care and concern.

Garnet knew nothing else to feel for her friend, someone more than a friend, so clearly in need.

Blanche could always lie. She had many times before. But that never made anything better, so with what little strength she had she replied.

"I do." Voice shaking, tears still falling, "But you shouldn't stay here just for me. Not in this world that has already taken so much. You would never have to hurt again. Never have to fight again. You can be at peace."

_**I made a promise didn't I? **_The characters were bold, the smiling face adamant.

But it only served as another bittersweet reminder.

"We both did." They had made that promise just before the end, just in case anything happened. But this wasn't part of it.

_**I'll stay with you as long as you need me.**_

And once again the words stung deeper than any wound she had received. And again she thought to lie; lies that Blanche didn't were either selfish or selfless, but one that might make some of the guilt go away.

But Garnet deserved better than that.

Garnet's face showed the unwavering conviction that she almost always had, especially now when she had to be strong for someone she cared for. It was one of the things Blanche adored about her so much.

"I-I. . . I think I always will."

And Blanche looked into to silver once more, scared of any answer she might find. But their softness and the smile not far beneath revealed what Garnet was writing before the quill even stopped.

_**Then I'll never leave you.**_

And the blue woman wrapped her arms around the princess, a warm embrace that they had both once feared they would never share again. Garnet freed one hand for a moment;

_**I love you.**_

How could so few words make so much torment go away?

"I love you too."

And they had their happily ever after, not the one they had hoped, but they were happy.

After all, they had each other.

The Queendom would learn to live with one of their queens being blue.

* * *

Ruby found herself a bit teary-eyed when she finished the story and closed her little story book.

The two children in front of her were still in a slight trance after having listened to intently.

And then she looked up for the first time in what was probably many minutes; to see her wife had returned from her errands with the amount of groceries one would expect for Ruby Rose and her offspring. Which meant it was a good thing she had the strength of a trained huntress.

How long she had been standing there, Ruby did not know.

"So you turned my worst nightmare about us in to a story for our kids?" Weiss asked somewhat amused.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Neither of us are even in the story at all." Ruby responded sheepishly, clearly not telling the whole truth, arms folded across her chest.

"The white-haired princess-sorceress 'Blanche' together with her partner turned girlfriend, a huntress named 'Garnet' go off and fight to save the world. Of course together with the huntress's sister, a blonde brawler named 'Yin', and her eventual girlfriend, the cat faunus assassin Noir. Among many other things." Apparently she had been standing there long enough. Weiss raised her eyebrow and looked inquisitively at her spouse.

Admittedly, it had not been hard to figure out. The children probably recognized it.

Still, Ruby grinned and blushed, looked somewhat embarrassed at having been found out.

"Well I still liked it," Weiss said with a smile, "But it still is a school night," looking to her now evidently sleepy children between the two of them "so you are both going to bed." Turning her attention back to Ruby, "I'll tuck them in while you put away the groceries"

The children made their complaints to going to sleep _now_, but they knew that it almost never worked so the whining was merely a token resistance. Weiss picked up the younger Wilda while Summer followed close behind up stairs. They were both in their pajamas already, so they just needed to be put to bed.

As Ruby listened to her wife whom she loved so dearly singing one of her lullabies in that sweet voice she loved so much, to their little whiterosebuds that she also loved with all her heart, Ruby wondered:

What had they done to deserve such a happily ever after?

* * *

**Hope y'all liked it! This was inspired by art by Weisscoldglare (who made the cover), check out their stuff on Tumblr**


	2. Could She Really Be Gone?

Could she really be gone?

Forever was a long time never to see that smile.

See her eyes.

Hear her laugh.

Feel her warm embrace.

* * *

It was a solo mission, it was supposed to be her last one.

They had all made a promise to each other to never go alone, after too many _almosts_.

But Ruby had already agreed to do this, too late to change plans.

And Ruby Rose wasn't going back on her word, especially when the promise was to help people.

She had said her goodbyes.

She promised to comeback

"Don't I always?"

Ruby said as she tried to put Weiss's fears to rest with a parting kiss.

The mission was supposed to take three days. . .

After five Glynda had informed them that they had lost all contact.

And there was nothing they could do but hope.

There had been tears in her eyes.

Ruby wasn't the first Rose to not come back.

And she was so much like her mother, it had scared Qrow and Tai sometimes, like looking back into the past.

Now Ruby may have shared her fate.

They held out hope. They had to.

But Tai couldn't. When he heard Ruby was missing, he relived Summer all over again. He _knew_ she was gone, and this time the one thing worse than the love of his life; his little girl.

The one thing he had left of _her_.

They made him go stay with Qrow and Willow; no one was sure he'd recover this time.

And that he might do something drastic.

The younger huntsmen started to go looking for her after a few days. Glynda had put up a token defense; saying it was too dangerous, not looking them in the eyes, that she was probably gone.

But Goodwitch knew there was no force in Remnant that could stop them.

They went in shifts, going out in at least teams of three at a time. Or at least they were suppose to.

Their friends had to force Weiss and Yang from going everyday. Blake was barely better, but she had to act strong for the other two.

It took Pyrrha and Nora to hold Yang down so Ren could calm her down after the third day without sleep.

Winter had to had to force sister to eat and sleep, tying her to her bed with glyphs at night.

In the dead of night Blake tried to sneak out to go it alone. Ilia and Sun had seen this coming. They had to tackle her. And she cried in their arms.

"We have to find her!" The three all shouted

"When", he made sure to emphasize that word, if nothing else to convince himself, "we find Ruby, she is going to need you all alive!"

There was frustration in Jaune's voice, he had to try to keep them all going and not work themselves to death. He was the leader in Ruby's absence.

But they all knew the hypocrisy, they had found Pyrrha cradling him as he cried in the doorway last night after she had seen him trying to leave.

The footprints outside betrayed she had herself been coming _back_.

They had all tried to find her alone. Even Ren and Nora had disappeared for a few days, coming back only after Nora got hurt.

More and more people tried to help after the first week. CFVY, the rest of SSSN, NDGO, even CRDL.

Penny had argued that she didn't need rest, not when her best friend was still out there, but the diagnostic she tried to hide told a different story; overloaded, overheating, malfunctioning.

They had to find the one person they all couldn't loose.

Their friend.

Their best friend.

Her sister.

Her love.

* * *

After a month, people started to tell them to give up.

Qrow tried to explain that it hurt more to hold on. He knew that better than anyone.

Willow had planned a funeral. It would have been lovely: a quaint little church in Patch, red ribbons decorating everywhere, and an empty casket of red and white roses.

Blake cut it all to pieces. Weiss froze it. And Yang burnt it to ash.

JNPR would have shot anything left.

But everyone else was beginning to accept reality.

* * *

They had to start ranging farther and farther into the wilderness. It was too dangerous for anything but all seven of them.

It was less and less likely she would have gone this far. But they had already looked everywhere else.

Glynda begged them to stop.

Tai begged them to stop.

Qrow begged them to stop.

Willow begged them to stop.

Klein begged them to stop.

Ghira and Kali begged them to stop.

The Nikos' begged them to stop.

The Arcs' begged them to stop.

They didn't want to lose another son or daughter.

Even Winter started to give up, but she couldn't bring herself to try to stop them from searching for the girl she thought of as a sister.

* * *

They had never went so far before. Grimm hounded then day and night.

Everyday was a fight for their lives.

But if they died, then they would die for Ruby.

And she would have done the same for them.

Then they found the blood. It was the first they had found that wasn't caused by their own hands.

It was probably some poor animal ripped it shreds by Grimm, but maybe. . .

They were running out of supplies.

They had been out for over a week.

Blake was the only one not hurt, but she was exhausted. She only slept when she collapsed.

They couldn't stay out much longer.

And when they went back, someone would probably finally stop them.

They had been promised that.

"We have to find her."

"She's out here somewhere."

"She would do the same for us."

"Please, gods please."

Phrase repeated again and again.

"Ruby. . Ruby. . Ruby.." It was pretty much all Weiss and Yang said anymore. Sobbed anymore.

"I love her" was only other words they seemed to know at the end.

They say that tears dry up after a while. But every night there were seven puddles where they slept.

Each day their resolve was worn down.

* * *

Then they heard a gunshot.

High calibre.

They recognized it instantly.

As they did the beowulf howls.

They hadn't been able to run for a few days. Too tired, too little sleep, too hurt. Aura constantly low.

But they ran.

And every _fucking_ thing in there way turned to mulch in an instant.

Shields and swords cleaved alphas to pieces. Hammers and fists smashed them to powder. Gunfire riddling the world with holes.

The dust settled, and they didn't see her.

Again.

As always.

Then a faint call was heard.

They followed the sound.

It was a cave.

Cautiously they approached it, Yang and Weiss went in first. No one was going to stop them.

It was dark.

And against the far wall was a figure, sitting in the shadows. Blood of some grimm in front of it.

As their eyes adjusted to the gloom, they saw a shredded red and black combat skirt and a scythe with them. They were covered in wounds.

And silver eyes, full of pain, but quickly replaced with joy.

A weak voice, said with a slight smile, seemed thunderous in the cave silent but for tears hitting rock.

"What took you guys so long?"

* * *

**I posted this on Reddit before, hope y'all enjoyed**


	3. It's Not Your Fault

_"It's not your fault. . ."_

_"It's not your fault..."_

**_"It's not your fault."_**

Words that everyone had told her for those last few weeks,

Over and over again.

Even Yang through her own sobbing had assured her.

Again and again

But Weiss still didn't believe them.

Ruby was gone and it was her fault.

It was supposed to be a standard mission for the top eight huntsmen in Vale, arguably the world.

Even with Salem dead, Grimm and fanatical followers still remained. A nest under the influence of some rogue huntsman with an obsession of the late evil queen and a semblance that made the monsters sort of controllable.

Then it all went wrong. Best at fighting one on one, Pyrrha took out the crazed man while the rest focused on keeping his legion of Grimm at bay.

But after he hit the ground, Milo dealing a fatal blow when he refused to yield, dozens more of the demons appeared, beowolves and manticores.

They were too far out for hope of reinforcements, too badly outnumbered. They held their own for a while.

Until Weiss took stinger to the stomach. The others had been busy with their own fights and it had come from above, a blind spot as she finished off an Ursa. Now it they needed to get her out of there before she succumbed to the venom.

Ruby quickly order everyone to retreat to the airship. The demons followed, they had a good chance of taking down the ship even once it was in the air, and at this point Weiss wasn't the only one injured.

Once everyone was inside and it was in the air, she bolted. The last anyone saw of her was a streak of red, leading away the Grimm that has been quick on their tail. The last thing Weiss heard before going unconscious was "Goodbye".

It wasn't her fault, Nora had been hurt almost as bad just moment after her. She had a wound that could have also been fatal, even with Jaune's help.

It wasn't her fault, no two teams could have held off that many Grimm without a better position.

It wasn't her fault that they only found a small piece of a red cloak and nothing else.

It wasn't her fault that that special ring would never be worn.

But it still felt like it was her fault to Weiss. She now sat alone in her home, clutching at rose from a plant she had given Ruby, in an old outfit from a better time.

Her mind thought of little else in the last weeks then her beloved, her best friend, her rock. She hadn't seen the others in a while. Yang was as bad as her. They both refused to have a funeral, holding out the last hope they could. Winter had tried to console her, but the younger sister wouldn't even open the door.

Blake had only been able to help as much as she did because she could pick locks.

Weiss has thought of one thing that did give her the slightest bittersweet hope. They had been able to bring back Pyrrha through magic, so they might be able to do the same for Ruby.

But that had require Ozpin's soul, given in repentance for all he'd done.

But there was a soul that Weiss had to give, and she would give it willingly.

A knock came at the door. It was probably Blake again. She had refused to let the other beat themselves up without a friend their to help. But she failed to do much good.

Weiss let whoever this was knock for a very long time. Only when she couldn't ignore it anymore did she forced herself to get up. She was a mess, inside and out, but she couldn't care anymore.

She flung the door open, ready to make whoever whomever it was let her wallow in her grief in piece.

"I... I'm sorry it took so long.. my leg was broken and it's pretty far to walk back here."

Blue orbs starred in to silver ones, as the white haired girl ley tears fall tears she had thought long dried after the last weeks.

Falling to her knees, she was embraced by dirty, battered, but alive figure in front of her.

"Yang... You need to see her... Then hospital." Weiss choked out after several minutes.

"I needed to make sure you were okay first." The red haired girl replied. She wasn't crying quite as badly as her partner.

"And I really want a cookie after living in the wild for a month."

Weiss cried more, knowing it was all going to be okay.

* * *

**I've also posted this on Reddit. Hope y'all enjoyed my inability to have unhappy endings! :)**


End file.
